About

ITS Training Services provides learning opportunities on many of the technology applications and tools that affect our work and lives at Penn State. The goal of this group is to facilitate teaching and learning with technology to enhance the productivity and efficiency of Penn State's work force, as well as to provide professional and personal development opportunities to Penn State students, faculty, and staff.

Meet the Members of ITS Training Services

Chris Lucas, M.Ed., Director Chris joined ITS Training Services in 2002 as a technology trainer before moving into an Instructional Designer position focusing on designing and developing instructor-led and Web-based training on Penn State's administrative systems. He later became the assistant director, managing eight staff members, serving as the unit's project manager, and overseeing new training and instructional design initiatives. In 2009, Chris became the director of ITS Training Services. He has over 9 years of experience in instructional design and training.

Alan Klein, B.A., IT Training Specialist Alan is a 1994 Graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology in Professional Photographic Illustration. He also completed the Web Masters Certificate from the Penn State World Campus. Alan currently provides training on a wide variety of topics including many of the Adobe products, Word 2007, Course Collaboration, and Web 2.0 tools.

Dawn Van Bramer, IT Training Specialist Dawn has been a technology trainer with ITS Training Services since January 2006. She has over 13 years of experience in the creation and delivery of training. In her current position, she develops and provides training on Administrative Information Services to Penn State staff and faculty. She currently instructs workshops on the Penn State Data Warehouse and the Enterprise Information System (EIS).

Glenna Emel, M.Ed., Instructional Designer Glenna began in ITS Training Services as a technology trainer in March 2006. She has since moved into an Instructional Designer position, responsible for content related specifically to Administrative Information Services systems. She has over 13 years of experience in the education and training field.

Heather Huntsinger, IT Training Specialist Heather has been a technology trainer with ITS Training Services since 2004. She has a background in education. Heather provides training for staff, faculty, and students on various database technologies such as Microsoft Access, FileMaker Pro, and SQL. She also instructs training workshops on a variety of other applications including Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel.

Heather Ormsby, Training Coordinator Heather began working for ITS Training Services in July 2006. As the training coordinator, she is responsible for developing, planning, coordinating, implementing, and scheduling various training programs for the unit. She is also responsible for contributing to the coordination of conferences and symposiums with other units.

James Salvaggio, IT Training Specialist
Jim graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering Technology. In 2004 Jim started working in Information Technology Services (ITS) at Penn State and is now an IT Training Specialist in ITS Training Services. He specializes in Communication and Collaboration Technologies, including VoIP, Adobe Connect, Oracle Calendar, Videoconferencing and Microsoft Outlook.

Ken Layng, B.S., CCNP Ken's primary role is to provide for the training and development needs of IT staff and their users. In this capacity, he serves as the Teaching and Learning with Technology training liaison to Security Operations and Services, coordinates community training events, resources, and vendor training initiatives, and offers face-to-face training for IT staff and the users they support. He has been with ITS Training Services since 2004.

Mark Heckel, Penn State 1981, 1987 M.Ed., IT Training Specialist Mark is the Web technologies training specialist with ITS Training Services, specializing in Adobe Connect, Dreamweaver, and Flash; Web 2.0 tools; Blogs at Penn State; Wikispaces; FrontPage/Expression Web; CSS/XHTML and various other topics. He also represents ITS Training Services on a variety of Web-related committees at Penn State.

Ryan Johnson, IT Training Specialist Ryan has been a technology trainer with ITS Training Services since January 2008. He has over 10 years of experience as a trainer, providing technology training to companies all over the world. In his current position he provides training on Administrative Information Services to Penn State staff and faculty. He currently instructs classes on Penn State Financial including Integrated Business Information Systems (IBIS) and The Financial Information Tool (FIT).

Tara Caimi, Marketing & Communications Tara joined the Teaching and Learning with Technology unit in 2002 and has worked as a writer/editor and marketing coordinator within the unit. She currently coordinates the communication and marketing efforts for ITS Training Services, managing Web site content, creating and producing printed and electronic promotions, and working with other units on collaborative communication efforts.